In this era of autonomous cars, legal changes become essential. Because human drivers should not be legally accountable for road safety in this driverless car era. Experts said that lawmakers should focus on how to define self-driving.
The law commissions for England and Wales, and Scotland shared a report about driver legal responsibilities while driving a driverless car. The report mentioned that the driver should be redefined as a “user-in-charge” in these cars. If anything goes wrong, the car-making company will be responsible rather than the driver. However, the difference between self-drive and driver-assist features should be clearly mentioned by the company.
The chief research strategy officer at Thatcham Research Matthew Avery said, “We applaud the recommendations that compel carmakers to use appropriate terminology when marketing these systems, to prevent motorists from becoming convinced that their car is fully self-driving when it is not. In the next 12 months, we’re likely to see the first iterations of self-driving features on cars in the UK.”
Matthew also said, “It’s significant that the Law Commission report highlights the driver’s legal obligations and how they must understand that their vehicle is not yet fully self-driving”
The Department for Transport in the UK authorized the automated lane-keeping systems (ALKS) last year. Through this ALKS system, the driver need not monitor the road or keep their hands on the wheel. But the law commission’s report recommended a series of a regulatory frameworks for automated vehicles.